LIVE REVIEW & GALLERY: Wrong Jovi @ Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich
June 22nd 2024
Having seen Bon Jovi live many years ago at Wembley, I just had to see this popular tribute act, who are now in their 10th year of touring. While I had never been to the Maddermarket Theatre before, the staff were very pleasant, giving me some history of the building and making me feel really welcome. Even though there wasn’t much of a queue when I arrived, the auditorium was close to full capacity before the show started, so I knew I was in for a lively night. It wasn’t long before Wrong Jovi entered the stage.
Ally - Vocals
Mark - Guitar / Backing Vocals
Jon - Keyboards / Backing Vocals
Jim - Bass / Backing Vocals
Alex - Drums
Before the performance began, the band promised songs for die-hard fans as well as casual listeners, so I knew there would be plenty of clapping and singing along. Wrong Jovi kicked things off with “Blood on Blood”, “You Give Love A Bad Name”, and “Born to Be My Baby”. The toughest part of being a Bon Jovi fan and a photographer was taking photos whilst singing along with the rest of the audience. They then followed up with “It’s My Life”, after which they stepped into their own time machine and made a notable tribute to Bon Jovi, who have now been performing for 40 years. To mark the occasion, they played “Runaway” to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Other songs in the first set included “Blaze of Glory”, “These Days”, and “Bed of Roses”, which for me was done to perfection, and “In These Arms”.
Even though the first set consisted of about 11 songs, it just flew by. Every member of the audience was singing and clapping along, and then it was time for a short interval, which gave enough time to get drinks and be seated in time for the second set.
Wrong Jovi started the second set with the likes of “Lay Your Hands On Me” and “Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night”. After a few tracks, they played “Always” and you could feel that every audience member wanted to take out a lighter and wave it about in motion to this classic ballad. It wasn’t long before it went from ballad to rock with the brilliant “Bad Medicine”. Soon afterwards, the band put on their cowboy hats to perform “Dead or Alive”. They finished the set with “Keep the Faith” and, of course, the encore “Livin’ On A Prayer”, for which every audience member was standing, clapping, singing and even some dancing.
Considering each member of Wrong Jovi comes from a different part of the UK, they played like they all lived close to each other. Each member put their heart into playing and singing, with Ally singing his heart out to every song and Mark taking on lead vocals for a song, along with an amazing guitar solo. It is easy to see why Wrong Jovi have been touring around the world for the last 10 years and why they are one of the most popular tribute acts around. An iconic band like Bon Jovi deserves a decent tribute act, and you don’t get much better than Wrong Jovi.
